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Ereshkigal
Ereshkigal is the queen of Irkalla (the Mesopotamian underworld). Ereshkigal serves as both the warden and the guardian of the dead. History The story of how Ereshkigal came to be the ruler of Irkalla is not known. It is known however that she herself cannot leave the underworld and is in a since just as much a prisoner of Irkalla as any of the dead who reside there. Myth of Dumuzi From a young age Ereshkigal resented being trapped in Irkalla and envied her sister Ishtar for being beloved by humans and gods alike. This resentment was such that on one occasion when Ishtar went down to Irkalla to visit her sister, Ereshkigal took Ishtar hostage, and impaled her on a meathook. Ereshkigal agreed to release Ishtar if she could find someone else to take her place in Irkalla, Ereshkigal let Ishtar out of the underworld but kept her surrounded by en entourage of demons until she found someone to take her place. Ishtar at first didn't want to force anyone into taking her place and assumed she wouldn't have to. All of the gods and humans loved Ishtar but everywhere she went nobody was willing to take her place, seeing her family and friends and worshipers one by one announce their unwillingness disillusioned Ishtar. Finally Ishtar's beloved husband the Shepard god Dumuzi fled in terror when asked to make this sacrifice, outraged at her husbands cowardice she told the demons that Dumuzi was to be her replacement. They ran after him, captured him and dragged him down into Irkalla. Myth of Nergal After the Fall of the Mesopotamian gods Out of all the underworlds and otherworldly realms Irkalla is the hardest to reach and the most strongly defended. Ereshkigal and Nergal were able to withstand the downfall of the Mesopotamian pantheon. Personality Ereshkigal is the opposite of her sister Ishtar and she always has been. From the very beginning Ereshkigal defined herself by being in opposition to her sister who she felt had life to easy and resolved to bring Ishtar as much misery as possible. Ereshkigal views the world through the distorted lens of Social Darwinism, interpreting everything in terms of authority, control, domination, and submission. Because she is trapped in the underworld and cannot escape she exercise her power in arbitrary and tyrannical ways to remind everyone in her realm that they aren't ever going to be free either. Unlike Ishtar who sleeps around with everyone and whose libido is rivaled only by Zeus, Ereshkigal has only ever slept with Nergal and she wants to make sure that he never sleeps with anyone besides her either. Every time he comes back from an excursion to the mortal world the first thing she does is interrogate him and scrutinize him about everywhere he's been and everything he's done. Ereshkigal seems to be under the delusion that she's the biggest bad guy around and is oblivious to the fact that Tiamat is coming back to life and could destroy all the gods. Abilities * Standard abilities of a goddess * Divine necromancy and control over all forms of death magic. * Symbiotic relationship with Irkalla, able to reshape any aspect of the geography of this world to suit her needs and whims. * Ability to negate the magic of others while they are inside her realm. * Despite being physically trapped in her realm she can still manifest in the dreams of mortals and demigods Category:Sumerian deity